


Neil, not Nathaniel

by CrazyPenguinWriter2001



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, M/M, Protective Andrew Minyard, andrew's pov, other people's pov, the Riot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-12 11:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19228252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyPenguinWriter2001/pseuds/CrazyPenguinWriter2001
Summary: The Riot and the situation surrounding Neil's kidnapping, but for instance from Andrew's point of view.





	1. The Game

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language! Correct me if I make any mistakes, for I will only learn from those mistakes!  
> Enjoy this, for I enjoyed writing it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game against the Bearcats and part of the aftermath.

Neil's floundered face almost made Andrew snort. Almost.

"It's a waste of time and money." Neil had found his voice again, to comment on the ongoing bets Andrew had just mentioned to him. "They'll all lose. I've said all year I don't swing and I meant it. Kissing you doesn't make me look at any of them differently. The only one I'm interested in is you." 

"Don't say stupid things." 

"Stop me," Neil returned.

He put his hands in Andrew's hair and pulled him in for a kiss. Andrew did not know whether to be mad at Neil because he did not ask for consent to kiss Andrew or to pull Neil in even harder. Fortunately, Andrew remembered where they were and who were waiting outside, otherwise he might have had to make a decision. 

It probably was way too soon, and judging from Neil's face he thought it was, but it wasn't the time or place to be doing this. Andrew got off the bus and went inside for drinks, Neil following.

~*~

For some reason Aaron shifted out of the way to let Neil through. Andrew stared him down, wondering what he wanted.

"Last month you shut the Catamounts out," Neil said. "Can you do it again tonight?"

Ah, it was an Exy-thing Neil wanted. Andrew did not know why he felt surprised. 

"The Catamounts were a wretched team," Andrew decided to say. "They brought that ridicule on themselves."

"Can you or can you not?" Neil could be annoyingly persistent. 

"I don't see why I should."

The referees were opening the door, but Andrew did not move. He wanted Neil's reaction first. 

Neil put an arm in Andrew's path, put his hand to the wall and leaned in as close to Andrew as he could.

"I'm asking you to help us." Help us, help the Foxes, not just Neil. "Will you?"

Andrew considered it for a moment. "Not for free."

He had no idea why he always agreed to do stuff for Neil in the end, but he did get something out of it too, most of the time. Maybe he could ask Neil to tell him about some of the scars, or maybe which cities he had been to. Or maybe he could just ask Neil to promise to come to Andrew if something did go wrong and he could not solve it on his own. It would help Andrew feel better about Neil being... 'loose', for lack of a better word.

"Anything," Neil said, promised, and he stepped back to take his place in the line again. 

During the game, Andrew did exactly as Neil had asked him to do. Maybe even more. 

He shut the Bearcats out with his entire body and even started talking to the defense line, insulting them and how they were playing. Ordering them to pick up their pace and telling them to stop letting those stupid strikers through. 

Matt loved it, for some reason. He was grinning the whole time, for which Andrew snapped at him to stop wasting his energy for. 

Neil also liked it, Andrew could tell by the way he kept looking back from time to time, with a little smile on his face. 

At some point in the second half, the Foxes caught up with the Bearcats, and with one minute on the clock Kevin scored, of course. 

The Bearcats got more violent after that, trying to draw the score even, so Andrew was not surprised the two teams started fighting when the final buzzer marked the end of the game. 

Andrew was looking at Neil, who had shot him a triumphant look - oh how Andrew wished he could immortalize that grin - before staring at the Bearcat strikers fighting with Nicky and Matt.

Neil disappeared for a moment and came around the brawl with Kevin, which meant Andrew had no reason to get involved. The two people he had promised to take care of were safe. 

It took all of the referees, Wymack and all of the Bearcats' coaches to pull the players apart, and because the Foxes did not throw the first punch, Wymack let them go off court without yelling at them for their behavior. 

Andrew lingered for a moment, trying to catch Neil's eye before going to the men's room. When he caught it, he tipped his head toward the locker room, to tell Neil he was going after Kevin instead of staying behind. He respected Neil's decision, even though he did not like it. And a promise was a promise.

Neil smiled at him, so Andrew turned away and followed the others to the locker room to change and shower, leaving Neil to deal with the press.

"We won!" Matt exclaimed, wincing when he threw his hurt arms in the air.

"Barely," Kevin commented. "If it weren't for Andrew shutting them out, we probably would not have."

"Partypooper."

"Why did you shut them out?" Kevin asked. "Usually you don't care. You usually don't even care enough to mutter a word to the defensive line too."

"Not that we don't appreciate it," Matt chimed in. "It was awesome."

"I guess Neil has something to do with it." Aaron shrugged of his shirt. 

"Why?" Kevin almost looked hurt. "Why do you listen to Neil? Why do you do what he asks you to, even though you never care?"

Andrew merely shrugged. "To taunt you."

Before Kevin could react to that statement, Andrew walked away to grab his towel and take off to shower. 

Not too soon after that, the others joined and even Neil returned, but Andrew did not wait for him to finish. And neither did any of the others, so they had to wait for him in the lounge, something the others did not mind as much as Andrew did. They all partied, under supervision of one of the guards.

Nicky did try to involve Andrew, but one sharp look made his cousin slung his arm over Aaron, so Andrew could sit and wait in patience for Neil to finish showering and dressing. He wanted to tell Neil he did not know yet what Neil had to do in return for tonight's favor, to tell him he should know he will probably not like the favor Andrew was going to ask of him, but also to look at his grinning face, the face he always wore after one of the matches they won. To drown in those happy, blue eyes of him.

But all that had to wait. Neil had to return first.

So Andrew waited. Patiently.


	2. The Riot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I guess the title says all... THE RIOT! DUN DUN DUN

Andrew did not know how much time had passed, but it was enough time for Neil to be ready. Andrew wondered what was keeping him, but was soon distracted by the guard in front of the lounge.

"If we're all accounted for, we should head out."

Nicky voiced Andrew's thoughts. "We're still waiting for Neil."

The guard gestured down the hall, probably to where Neil was standing. Footsteps came closer and when Neil stepped into the den, Nicky jumped to his feet.

"Hey Neil!" He greeted Neil enthusiastically. "We were starting to think you'd drowned in there."

"I'm sorry," Neil said.

He sounded strange, almost like he was emotional. Neil did not notice Andrew staring at him while he watched the others gather their things, but Andrew did notice the sad look in his eyes. 

Neil was supposed to be happy about their victory, not sad. Something was up, but Andrew could not figure out what.

He crossed the room to stand in front of Neil, silently demanding an explanation. Neil stared back for a while.

"Thank you," he finally said. "Your were amazing."

Andrew kept on staring. It sounded almost... like a goodbye. He did not understand. Neil stared back and smiled, before he turned around and headed out.

They left the stadium in a line, Neil up front and Andrew behind him. Neil did not turn around to chat with any of the others, to talk about the game or their win or anything. Andrew stared at his hair, willing him to turn around and say something. 

Outside were the rowdy fans, too drunk to function. Andrew almost choked on the thick smell of alcohol, just like the others behind him.

The Foxes' fans cheered for them, the Bearcat fans on the other side of them shouted insults and curses. Andrew ignored both and kept staring at the back of Neil's head.

Andrew wanted to grab the redhead and shake him violently, but he knew he should wait until they were in the bus. Otherwise he might pull the drunken fans into reacting violently too, and start a riot.

Not that it mattered. A few seconds later a bottle flew over their heads, coming out of nowhere. Aaron cursed, making Andrew turn around and seeing a red mark on his brother's head. Andrew shot deadly looks into the crowd, but before he could even try to find the fan who had thrown the bottle, someone else had thrown a shoe, followed by another empty beer bottle.

The pigs tried to restore order, but failed miserably because of the cooler that almost hit Dan. She dodged though, thanks to her quick reflexes, but the fan standing behind her did not have those reflexes. His friends started shouting and cursing, which was picked up by the crowd at their back.

Before they knew it, the fans started a riot, with the Foxes caught in the middle.

Andrew tried to locate Neil, but he had disappeared. Kevin and Aaron were too far to successfully grab, meaning Andrew had to move fast to protect them from the angry fans.

Someone elbowed him in his face, right next to his eye. A flash of agony shot through and made Andrew cringe in pain, but he did not forget to shove the person off him before he went after Aaron and Kevin.

Luckily, his brother saw Andrew coming, so he grabbed Kevin and moved towards Andrew. 

Before Aaron could say anything to him, Andrew grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to the bus, where Coach Wymack was.

Renee stood beside him, along with Abby, scanning the crowd from inside the bus, over the heads of the pigs trying to keep the fans at bay. Her face lit up when she saw Andrew dragging Kevin and Aaron towards them, and she made sure Wymack saw them too by tapping him on his shoulder.

"That's four out of the nine," Wymack grumbled, a little relieved. "Now we only need to find Nicky, Allison, Dan, Matt and Neil."

Andrew dropped his cousin and brother and started scanning the crowd. No redhead in sight. None of the other four either, but Neil's disappearance upset Andrew more then he would admit. He knew he had promised Neil to let Neil take care of himself, but he would definitely feel more at ease if that idiot actually managed to do just that and drag his ass up to the bus.

Wymack got the instructions to move the bus, probably because the pigs hoped the riot would calm down a little if he did.

Before Wymack could move though, Renee had spotted someone and jumped out of the bus, into the crowd. Andrew followed where she was going and saw Allison, failing to reach them because of the fan clinging to her arm.

Renee appeared at her side and punched the fan off Allison. The fan started to fight back, but Allison interfered, grabbed Renee and ran towards the bus. Abby had her first aid kit ready when they stepped on and Wymack started the engine.

"It's just a bruise," Allison said, shooing Abby away and looked at Renee. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I only hurt my wrist when I knocked the man of you, that's all."

"Let me see." Abby grabbed her kit and Andrew focused on the riot again, hoping a auburn haired idiot would somehow show up.

Wymack drove away before Andrew had seen Neil. The lump in his throat grew with every passing second they were moving away from the riot.

Andrew wanted to go back and find Neil, but Wymack had already reached the road, and before Andrew could demand Wymack to stop the bus and let Andrew off, Abby appeared to bandage his face. He slapped her hands away, but Abby insisted on at least having a look.

"You have blood in your eye Andrew, let me at least look if it is dangerous for your health."

Andrew did not care about his health. He only cared about Neil and his whereabouts. Screw his stupid eye.

"Stop death-glaring me and at least let me look Andrew," Abby pleaded.

"No." And that was final.

~*~

When the police had managed to break up the riot, Wymack drove them back to look for the missing Foxes. There were a lot of ambulances and paramedics on site, but no sign of the missing four Foxes.

Andrew had tasked himself with finding Neil probably, so Kevin tagged along. They searched inside the entire stadium before moving to the stadium's surroundings. Andrew did not stop for a breath or to take in the surroundings more. He was like a whirlwind on a mission, that mission being finding Neil Josten. Kevin tried to contribute, but before he had a good look around, Andrew had already moved on, forcing Kevin to run after him again. And before he could react or ask Andrew to slow down, Andrew started dashing towards a bag on the ground. 

When Kevin came close, he recognized it. "Isn't that Neil's duffel?"

Andrew ignored him and went through its contents, looking if something had been stolen. Surprisingly enough Andrew even found Neil's phone.

Kevin frowned. Neil always had that in his pocket. Why leave it in the duffel? 

Then it hit Kevin. Neil would never let go of his bag willingly. He held on to that duffel like his life depended on it.

Andrew's frantic look told Kevin he had come to the same conclusion. And something on Neil's phone was even more unsettling, draining all the blood from Andrew's face.

Kevin looked over Andrew's shoulder to see what he saw on Neil's phone.

It was his message box, with a '0' from an unknown number. Kevin's stomach dropped.

"Andrew..." Kevin did not know what to say.

Andrew went to Neil's call history. Another unknown number had called him, starting with 443. Andrew's knuckles went white as he almost cracked the phone with his grip. Kevin just stared.

Before any of them could do anything else though, Aaron and Abby caught their attention.

"He's not here," Abby said. "David has informed the police Neil is missing, after which he got a call from the hospital Nicky, Dan and Matt are there, so we're going to get them first."

Aaron saw what Andrew was holding with an iron grip, but did not comment on it.

"Is that Neil's duffel?" Abby asked. "He must have lost it. At least it's something."

Abby clearly did not know how serious this was. Neil never loses his duffel. And you don't just get a zero messaged to you from an unknown number, or a call for that matter.

This all meant something. Something bad.


	3. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil is still missing, and Andrew is starting to freak out. Where is Neil? And what might Kevin know?

When they got inside the hospital, Nicky, Dan and Matt were already waiting for them in the waiting room.

"We were released with minor injuries," Dan explained. "Matt took a beating, I might limp for a few days and Nicky had mostly been traumatized and got hit on the back of his head, but it's just a bump and he had no concussion."

Nicky jumped up from his seat and moved to his cousins. Even though Andrew hated being touched, he hugged them both, relieved they were okay.

Andrew hit him in the stomach, forcing Nicky to let them go. Nicky did not care though. Someone did not stand behind Andrew to warn Nicky about not touching Andrew or shaking his head at Nicky still doing so.

"Where's Neil?" Matt asked before Nicky could do the same.

"Missing," Wymack said grimly. "Andrew found his duffel and phone, but Neil was nowhere near. I have called the police to inform them about it, so all we can really do is wait for them to call back."

Nicky felt tears forming in his eyes. "M-missing?"

"The police will find him for sure," Abby reassured him, but she did not sound certain herself.

Nicky tried to stop his tears from flowing, but some might have slipped out. Matt put his head in Dan's neck, and she patted his head and whispered to him.

At moments like these, Nicky really missed Erik. To assure him everything was going to be alright. To have a shoulder to cry onto. To kiss and love and be there.

"Shall we go to a hotel then? We better get some sleep before we start stalking the police and their progress." Wymack looked at them sternly, but tired.

One after another they started going for the bus, but Nicky and Kevin stayed behind, and because Kevin stayed there, Andrew stopped by the door before looking back once.

"Go ahead,"Kevin said, not looking up from is phone. "I'll catch up later."

"I need to call Erik," Nicky muttered.

Andrew did not react and went out. Nicky glanced at Kevin, who was frowning, and went to a quiet spot to call his boyfriend.

~*~

Kevin used the hospital's WiFi to look up what area had 443 as starting numbers, and he started frowning at the result. 

Baltimore. The 443 area code was from Baltimore.

It sounded familiar, but it took some time for the pieces to fit together with Kevin. And when they did, he went pale.

Neil's father. Neil's father had owned and controlled Baltimore for the Moriyama's when he was not in prison. The Butcher. Had he found Neil? 

But why did Riko do nothing about it? Did the Moriyama's let the Butcher's people have free reign to capture and kill Neil? But he was an investment for them, like Kevin. Unless some things had changed and Neil was not meant to be Riko's anymore. 

Nicky came back, red-eyed and sniffing. Kevin put away his phone and looked at him, still shocked from what he had just learned.

"Shall we go back?"

Nicky simply nodded. He probably didn't feel like speaking.

Kevin did not feel like speaking too, so they made their way to the bus in silence. Kevin thought about Neil and the fact he had been kidnapped.

Did he say that right? Did that mean the riot was staged to have an excuse to split the Foxes up and send Wymack on a wild goose chase? To distract Andrew and Kevin and all the other Foxes from protecting Neil? To abduct him without too much people noticing, so they'd be long gone before the Foxes found out?

The bus was silent as well, but all eyes were on Kevin and Nicky when they entered.

Abby got up to cradle Nicky in her arms and use her shoulder to cry on, before she told him to go take a seat and let Kevin through.

When Kevin made eye-contact with Andrew, he immediately knew Andrew saw he was hiding something. Andrew's eyes flared and before Kevin could stop him, he got up and rushed forward, grabbing Kevin by the throat.

"Spill." Andrew said, with a voice that could freeze hell.

Kevin could not speak, let alone breathe. Andrew's hands were like a clamp, and even though Kevin tried to pull them off, he was too strong.

"Andrew!" Wymack yelled, when Andrew pushed Kevin into a seat, hands still on his throat.

Kevin started feeling light-headed, and more desperate. He did not want to die like this, not here, not now. He wanted to tell Andrew, but he couldn't, because his hands were crushing his throat and sending him down even further. Kevin's movements started to slow down...

Matt had gotten up to help Kevin get of Andrew, but Andrew was too strong for him alone too, so soon after Kevin started slowing down and falling away, Renee and Wymack got their hands on Andrew too. It took Wymack, Renee and Matt a few tries to actually pull Andrew off, freeing Kevin.

Abby immediately sat next to him while Renee, Wymack and Matt held a struggling Andrew, whose eyes spat fire. "Kevin! Are you okay?"

"Neil has been kidnapped," Kevin said in a husky voice. 

The whole bus got silent. Andrew even stopped kicking Matt and Wymack and looked at Kevin, wide-eyed. 

Kevin coughed for a few times. Abby offered him some water, which Kevin declined, desperate to get it out and giving Andrew what he wanted, to ensure he would not get strangled again. 

"Baltimore." Kevin coughed again. "The area code was from Baltimore."

"So?" Andrew had shaken off the other three, but he did not move from his spot. Wymack, Matt and Renee kept their eyes on him, to make sure he would not start choking Kevin again.

"The Butcher." Kevin felt dizzy. "The Butcher maintained that area for the Moriyama's, as their pawn. Neil was his son."

No-one even dared to break the 'silence' in which Kevin continued coughing and Abby insisted he took the water, so he drank until his throat did not feel like it was on fire anymore and continued.

"I don't know how they'd found Neil, but since he and his mother ran, they must not have been happy with him being alive." Kevin had to tell them this, for there was a possibility they'd get Neil back dead. "He had been called by a number from Baltimore, so I guess it was to say he had been found and they came to get him."

"Which they did," Dan said silently, since Kevin started drinking the water again to ease his throat.

"No..." Surprisingly enough, this came from Andrew.

His face was white, his eyes big and his hands were shaking. Kevin shook his head silently, and started explaining how he and Neil had met for the first time, the first first time, when Neil was Nathaniel and he had his 'audition' by the Ravens, and the horrible thing the Butcher did to a man with Neil, Riko and Kevin as witness. It still haunted him from time to time, but he had learned to use Exy as a way to calm his nerves.

He told them about the connections between the Butcher and the Moriyama's, at least he told them what he knew about those connections. He told them how the Butcher had served little prison time, since the police and the FBI could not pin the murders he was accused of on him. All that he knew, he told them. The Foxes listened carefully, shocked and sad at how this revealed a few things about Neil - his jumpiness, his shock when the Foxes were being nice to him, his secrets, his worn clothes.

When Kevin was done talking, the others needed some time to let this sink in.

"Fuck," Matt said. "Fuck!"

Dan put her hand on his arm, trying to calm him down, but Matt was shaking his head furiously while muttering that word over and over.

Nicky looked like he could start crying again at any moment, Allison was white and stared at the floor, Renee put an arm on her shoulder and squeezed while looking at Andrew, who hadn't moved a muscle and was clenching his fists again, Aaron looked just shocked, Abby was trying to calm Nicky down while her eyes started to water too and Wymack just looked at Kevin blankly, as if he tried to catch Kevin in lying about all of it.

But Kevin wasn't lying. It was the truth and nothing but the truth he had told them. Or at least, the truth he knew. Neil could probably fill in some blanks Kevin had missed.

But Neil was most likely dying somewhere, being murdered by his father and his men.

Andrew tried to storm off, but Wymack stopped him. 

"Let's go to the hotel." Wymack looked at the rest. "We're all tired and this needs to sink in. Let's stop by the first one we see, alright?"

"Maybe we'll hear good news from the police when we get there."

Abby's optimism was sweet, but every Fox in this bus knew the awful truth. When the mafia was involved, the police usually was of no use.

They needed all the luck they could get if they wanted the police to find Neil at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey,
> 
> You know, I have been playing with this for a while, but in TKM Andrew only said he choked the answers out of Kevin on the way to the hotel they were staying at, so one question that lingered in my head was: how did Kevin figure out Neil had been kidnapped by his father's men? (Unless you take 'on the way here' like the Foxes had already been notified of Neil being kidnapped by his father and now held custody by the FBI, so Andrew simply forced Kevin to fill in the blanks the FBI wouldn't give them, but I like my take on it better).  
> Well, this is how I imagined him doing so.


	4. The Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew thinks about his time with Neil, the Foxes sleep for awhile and Wymack gets a call from a certain Special Agent Browning.

Andrew felt numb. The only overflowing emotion that went through him was a mixture of rage and desperation, and maybe even sadness. 

The only thing Andrew could think of was Neil. All the things they did and didn’t do. All the kisses and secrets they’d shared, their last one being a short one on the bus. Andrew wished he had not pulled away so soon. If he’d known that would be the last time he’d get to kiss Neil, he would have never let him go.

But there was no use for regret. Regret did not solve anything about the situation, nor did it help Andrew fall asleep.

He shared his room with Kevin, but only because Wymack could only get rooms for two. Otherwise he would have insisted on Aaron and Nicky being in the room there with him. He needed to know they were still there, safe and sound and with him. He needed that feeling of control over the situation.

But instead he watched the ceiling, whereas Kevin was sound asleep. Andrew’s thoughts did not allow him to sleep. 

Andrew stirred when Kevin turned around and murmured in his sleep.

The bruising had started as soon as they had entered the hotel, and it caused the other Foxes to glance at Andrew and acting more cautiously, as if he were a wild animal that could lose control. 

Andrew felt like he could lose control again. His emotions had always been in check, controlled by him and him alone, but somehow Neil being gone, kidnapped, dying, dead, caused Andrew to lose that control. As if it were Neil pulling the strings instead of Andrew.

He hated how one person, one idiot, one fool, one halfwit, one simpleton, one cretin, one moron could make him feel that way. 

But at the same time…

Andrew sniffed and turned again. He might hate that imbecile, but he also missed him. He missed his remarks, his snarky face, his blue eyes, his soft, auburn hair, his mouth…  
How could one person make you feel that way, Andrew wondered. How was it that he felt his heart overflowing with grief when he thought about Neil being dead, while he did not even cringe when he murdered his own mother. His biological mother.

Before Andrew could think of an answer to that, he heard noise on the hallway.

He looked at the alarm. 5 AM. What was going on?

Somehow he felt hope spark in his chest, hope Wymack had some news about Neil. But it could also be someone being rowdy at 5 AM, not caring he could wake up the entire floor with his loud footsteps.

That idea dissolved when Wymack opened the door to their bedroom and turned on the light.

“Ah, you were awake already.” Wymack gestured to Kevin’s lifeless form. “Wake that idiot up please, I have news.”

Andrew did not answer, but as soon as Wymack left their room, he jumped out of his bed and almost jumped on Kevin’s, but instead decided to take Kevin’s bed sheets.

The striker woke up with a snarl. “What?!”

“Wymack has news.” Andrew bolted for the door and marched over to Abby and Wymack’s room.

~*~

Wymack woke up abruptly when his phone rang. It was too early and he was too sleepy to make out the exact number, but he did see it was not one of his contacts, so whoever this was, he was a stranger.

“Hello?” Wymack muttered, knowing that shouting at said stranger about the fucked up time he/she called was not appreciated. 

“Is this David Wymack?” an unknown voice asked.

“Yes.”

“My name is Special Agent Browning, FBI.”

This made Wymack bolt forward, waking Abby in the process. Before she could ask , he shushed her and pointed at the phone.

“Yes?” 

Abby turned the bed-light on and put her ear next to Wymack's phone, hoping she could hear a snippet of who was calling.

“We have news regarding Neil Josten.”

Wymack did not dare to hope, but he did. “What about him? Did you find him?”

“We have. He’s currently in our custody, and when he wakes up, he’ll go with us for questioning. I’m calling because I need you and your team for some questions too.”

“Where is he?” 

Abby put her hand on her chest, eyes wide and hopeful. Wymack softly squeezed her other hand, reassuring and cheerful. Neil Josten was alive.

“That’s confidential. We just need an address mister Wymack, an address and answers.”

Wymack told them the address of the hotel they were staying at. “When can we see Neil?”

Agent Browning sighed silently. “Nathaniel, Neil, is in our custody, and currently still unconscious. We cannot let you visit him.”

“Neil is MY player, so what you and your protocol have to say about it-”

“Mister Wymack, please,” Agent Browning interrupted him. “This is FBI-business now. Have a nice day.”

Before Wymack could protest, Agent Browning hung up. Wymack huffed.

“They found him?” Abby still needed to ask: she had to be sure.

“Yes. In a few moments, the FBI will come down to question us, and we are not allowed to see Neil, who is in their custody and unconscious. Let’s round up the Foxes and tell them the good news.”

Abby nodded and they got out of bed to wake up the Foxes.

~*~

“Excuse them!” Dan bellowed when she heard about them not being able to see Neil. “They can fuck off! Neil is alive and we are not even allowed to see him?!”

“Bullshit,” Matt muttered. 

“I cannot help it,” Wymack said, grumpy. “And I’m afraid there’s not much we can do against it.”

“We can refuse to tell them anything,” Allison said with fire in her eyes. 

“I’m in,” Dan murmured.

Andrew looked at them curiously. His heart was pounding, both angry and relieved. Neil was alive. Neil was in the pigs’ hands. Neil was fucking alive and kicking. They were not allowed to see him.

Someone knocked on their door. Before anyone else could react, Andrew got up to open it.

As expected it was one of the pigs. Andrew looked at him.

“Hello. My name is Kurt-”

“I don’t give a shit.” Andrew put his knife against Kurt’s throat. “I need to see Neil, Nathaniel, whatever his name may be.”

“Andrew Joseph Minyard!” Wymack shouted. 

Andrew did not care. Kurt huffed and stepped back, but Andrew moved along and held his knife against the man’s throat, without batting an eyelash.

“I’m afraid it’s against the protocol-”

“I don’t care about your silly protocol. Neither does any of the others in this room. We want to see Neil first.” Andrew smiled. “Will you call your superiors to ask them nicely?”

“I will ask them nicely to put you in handcuffs,” Kurt sneered.

“Andrew! That’s enough.”

Andrew only listened to Wymack because his coach had shoved him off the agent and stepped between them. He looked at them with a bored expression.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Kurt took off. 

“Can you not for one moment?!” Wymack seemed furious, but Andrew saw how fed up the man was with this situation, and not just Andrew’s behavior. 

Andrew shrugged. “It was one way to get what we want.”

Kurt came back. He had cuffs in his hand.

“Nathaniel is coming this way. You have to be cuffed to me though.”

Andrew really did not want to be cuffed to a pig, but Neil was coming and that made Andrew hate the world a little less.

Wymack however knew Andrew did not like to be cuffed to strangers. “Cuff him to my wrist. I’ll watch over him.”

Kurt shot Wymack a look, but did not refuse, so a little later Andrew was cuffed to his coach and walked to the bus to move it. 

Andrew felt his heart pound louder with every passing second. Neil was coming. Finally he could see that idiot again. And not in a coffin, but alive. Neil Josten, Nathaniel Wesninski, was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, English is not my first language, so if there are any mistakes, please tell me!  
> We're almost there! The next chapter is going to be sooooooo long though... It might take me a few days to actually upload it. Be patient and have fun reading this!


	5. The Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil/Nathaniel returns to the Foxes, alive, though they would not say well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE MADE IT! It took some time, but I finally finished the last part of this work.  
> And it's a long one, so brace yourself.  
> Enjoy!

When Browning stepped in the room where all of the Foxes had gathered, his expression was everything but happy.

Matt sat next to Dan, on one of the beds. Nicky had been crying for some time after Andrew had gone with Wymack to move the bus, but he stopped when the agent spoke to them.

“Listen up, people. You’ve got twenty minutes. Let’s keep this orderly and have only one person at a time.”

“Twenty minutes?” Dan snapped, making Matt stop her from charging Browning to smash him in the face - they did not need another person in cuffs. “You’ve got to be joking. Why do-oh my god.”

Neil had entered the room, and he looked worse then any of them could have imagined.

He had bandages on his face and hands, but also probably on his chest, since there was a little white that peeked from under his shirt to his neck. He looked exhausted and hurt, but also glad to see them.

“Oh my god, Neil. Are you okay?” Dan asked.

Neil opened his mouth, but he did not speak. Instead he looked from one Fox to another, observing their wounds and faces. 

Abby, who was sitting next to Matt to nurse his wounds, dropped her gear when she saw Neil.

“Oh Neil, are you okay honey? Did they treat you right?”

Neil did not answer. Instead he seemed to get anxious. When he spoke, alarm was evident in his voice. “Where’s And-”

Before he could finish, the man he was talking about stormed past Kurt with Wymack trailing behind. 

Browning reached for his gun - probably informed by Kurt about Andrew’s violent behavior - but Neil was having none of that and grabbed the agent’s hand. He yanked him off balance, but suddenly let go to crush his hands to his stomach, obviously in pain.

Matt and several others wanted to go help him, but Andrew was first. 

He put his hand in Neil’s neck and shoved him to his knees.

Browning started moving to haul Andrew out of the way, but Wymack interfered. “Leave it.”

Neil’s head got back up, and Andrew’s expression stayed calm. Because the rule was one at the time and no-one wanted to get close to Andrew, they let the boys do their thing on the floor, with Neil’s back turned to them.

Dan sat down again and put her head in Matt’s shoulder, relieved Neil was here and alive.

“They could have blinded you,” Neil said, smiling a little. “All that time fighting and you never learned how to duck?”

Andrew was not impressed by that comment, but the other Foxes were so happy to hear Neil being sassy. Matt thought he could start crying any minute now. Andrew tugged Neil’s hood out of the way to observe the damage on Neil’s face, carefully removing the bandages. 

Whatever was underneath, it was bad. Wymack’s fierce look and respond said enough.

“Christ, Neil.”

Matt got up to see what had happened, but Wymack jerked his free hand in an emphatic order to stay put. “Don’t.”

Matt sat down again.

“One at a time,” Browning said, which made several Foxes glare at him furiously.

“I’m sorry,” Neil said to Andrew.

Matt looked at the pair again. Andrew had his fist back, but he did not take the swing - luckily, otherwise Matt had to get up to punch him with his ice packed hands. 

“Say it again and I will kill you,” Andrew said.

“This is the last time I’m going to say it to you,” Kurt said, coming up beside Wymack with a furious look on his face. “If you can’t stow that attitude and behave-”

“You’ll what, asshole,” Neil interrupted him. 

Matt wished he had recorded this or took a picture of Kurt’s face. Browning however wasn’t amused.

“Same goes for you Nathaniel,” he said. “That’s your second strike. A third misstep and this,” he twirled around his finger, “is over. Remember you are only here because we are allowing it.”

Matt wanted to punch the guy, just like Andrew did, but Neil stopped them both by framing Andrew’s face between his hands.

Allison nudged Renee and smirked at Dan and Matt, probably counting all the money she’d won just now.

“Don’t lie to a liar,” Neil said to Browning. “We both know I’m here because you have nothing without me. A pile of dead bodies can’t close cases or play the money trail with you. I told you what those answers would cost you and you agreed to pay it. So take this handcuff off of Andrew, get your man out of our way and stop using up my twenty minutes with you useless posturing.”

Damn, Matt thought. Nice move Neil.

Browning gestured and Kurt undid the cuffs. They were not happy, standing in the doorframe, but at least they were out of the way.

“So the attitude problem wasn’t an act, at least,” Andrew said.

“I was going to tell you,” Neil told him.

“Stop lying to me.”

“I’m not lying. I would have told you last night, but they were in our locker room.”

“They who?” Browning asked on behalf of everyone in the room.

Matt could take a guess of course, but Neil had switched to German already and ignored the pointed look Browning send him.

Nicky and Aaron could still follow the conversation though, so the rest just started looking at their faces for answers.

Aaron ignored them, as usual, but Nicky glanced at them and moved a little towards them, but then Neil said something that caused him to make an awful sound.

Aaron rolled of the bed to go stand beside Nicky and Neil turned around.

His cheek looked awful. Kevin slammed into the wall behind him and clasped a hand on his own tattoo, which had been burned away on Neil’s cheek.

Matt wanted to get up, but Dan stopped him. He tried to fight free, but Dan was stronger than he had anticipated, so he settled for a hoarse. “Jesus, Neil. The fuck did they do to you?”

Abby got up to take a look at Neil’s wounds, but Andrew caught hold of Neil and shot her a vicious look. She stopped in her tracks, concerned. 

“Get away from us,” Andrew said.

“Andrew,” Abby tried, carefully. “He’s hurt. Let me see him.”

‘He’s hurt’ was definitely an understatement. His other wounds were nothing compared to this.

“If you make me repeat myself you will not live to regret it,” Andrew said in a murderous tone.

None of the Foxes had heard that murderous tone from him. Allison grinned broadly, knowing she had won the bets they had made. Matt did not know if he had to be happy or worried, but Neil tugged Andrew’s hair and that sweet gesture made Matt smile a little.

“Abby, I just got out of the hospital,” Neil said. “I’m as good as I can be right now.”

He had not taken his eyes of the blond in front of him.

“Neil,” Abby tried.

“Please.” Neil stressed, making Abby step back and sit next to Matt again.

The conversation went back to German again, so the rest just waited for them to be done. Nicky and Aaron did not translate anything for them, but Matt would have loved to know why Neil’s face lit up surprised when Andrew said something to him.

“If they’re flirting, I’m gonna break up the party and take my turn,” Allison murmured.

Neither Nicky nor Aaron responded. Then Andrew started speaking English again.

“You aren’t going anywhere. You’re staying with us. If they try to take you away they will lose.”

“Take you away,” Dan echoed, not liking the sound of that. “To where?”

“Are we talking about ‘away for some questioning’ or ‘away for good’?” Matt demanded.

“Both,” Browning answered.

“You can’t have him,” Nicky said, and everyone nodded in agreement. “He belongs with us.”

“When people find out he is still alive they will come for him,” Browning said, probably hoping it would scare them. “It is not safe for him here anymore, and it sure as hell isn’t safe for you. It is better for everyone if he disappears.”

Matt did not agree. Neil was theirs. He was a Fox, family. They would fight for him.

“What part of ‘go to hell’ do you need us to explain to you?” Allison asked.

“We’re all legal adults here,” Matt added, knowing it would help them make the case. “We’ve made our decision. Unless he wants to stay with you, you’d better bring Neil back to us when you’re done with all your questions.”

“‘Neil’ isn’t a real person,” Browning tried, fed up with their stubbornness. “It’s just a cover that let Nathaniel evade authorities. It’s past time to let him go.”

The hell with that, Matt thought, but before he could argue, Nicky said: “Neil or Nathaniel or whoever. He’s ours, and we’re not letting him go. You want us to take a vote or something? Bet you it’ll be unanimous.”

Matt agreed wholeheartedly. Even Aaron looked like he was willing to fight for Neil.

“Coach Wymack, talk some sense in your team,” Browning said.

“Neil,” Wymack said, and Neil looked at him. “Talk to me. What do you want?”

The Foxes knew the answer before Neil could utter it.

“I want-I know I shouldn’t stay, but I can’t-I won’t lose this. I don’t want to lose any of you. I don’t want to be Nathaniel anymore. I want to be Neil for as long as I can.”

Matt really wished he had recorded that, to make a tattoo of later to put on his arm or another place he could look at anytime he wanted without being weird. It was the sweetest thing Neil had ever said, and Matt sure as hell did not ever want to forget it.

“Good,” Wymack said. “I’d have a hell of a time fitting ‘Wesninski’ on a jersey.”

Matt was beaming.

Browning rubbed at his temples. “I would like a word with you.”

“About?” Wymack asked.

“Your willingness to put your players in considerable danger, for one.”

“Giving up Neil goes against everything we are,” Wymack said. “I’m game to argue with you for as long as it takes, but not if it means using up Neil’s allotted time. That’s not fair to any of them.”

Andrew and Neil started talking German again, but soon enough Andrew let him go and they both got to their feet.

Neil looked at Wymack, switching back to English again. “I’m sorry. I should have told you, but I couldn’t.” 

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Wymack said. “Twenty minutes isn’t near long enough for this conversation. We can talk about it on the ride back to campus, right?”

“Yes. I promise. I just have to talk to them first.”

“Then go.” When Neil looked back at Dan, she stressed: “But come back to us as soon as they’re done with you, okay? We’ll figure this out as a team.”

“As a family.” Nicky smiled, and even though it was weak, it was encouraging.

Matt saw Neil looking like he couldn’t believe any of it, which caused him to tear up inside and crave giving Neil a fierce hug, even though he would definitely pull some wounds with that.

“Thank you,” Neil said.

Allison waved it off. “No, thank you. You just closed three outstanding bets and made me five hundred bucks. I’d rather find out exactly why and when you two hooked up than think about this awfulness any longer, so let’s talk about that on the ride back instead.”

Matt rolled with his eyes, but Dan smiled. Aaron could not believe it and looked at the pair like they would shoot Allison down, but neither of them did. Nicky opened his mouth and closed it again, staring at Neil. Kevin did not react to it at all, just like Renee.

Neil looked at Andrew. “Ready?”

“Waiting on you,” Andrew said.

“I didn’t invite him,” Browning said.

“Trust me,” Wymack told him before anyone could start a fight with him. “You’ll fare a lot better is you take them both.”

Browning did not look like he liked it, but gave in with an impatient: “We’re leaving now.”

Wymack stepped aside, to let the through. “We’ll wait for you, all right? As long as it takes Neil,” he promised when the injured boy passed him by.

Neil nodded and stepped out, leaving the other Foxes in the hotel with their questions and cravings to give Neil a big, fierce hug.

~*~

Andrew sat in the car next to Neil, not wanting to let the boy out of his sight ever again. 

Neil looked bad with all the injuries, and he sure as hell had some kind of trauma, but knowing Neil was alive was enough for now. Wounds would heal and scar, but you cannot bring the dead to life again.

Andrew watched Neil watching the hotel disappear out the window.

“Can I really be Neil again?” Neil asked in German, blue eyes on Andrew.

Without hesitation, Andrew said: “I told Neil to stay. Leave Nathaniel buried in Baltimore with his father.”

His blue eyes gazed out of the window again, and there was this stupid little smile on Andrew’s face when he realized how glad he was to see Neil alive and kicking. To be able to gaze into those blue eyes of him, to see the soft, auburn hair and to be able to kiss those lips again.

He refrained though, for there were too many witnesses and he first needed to control his own emotions again. 

“Neil Abram Josten,” Neil murmured, and Andrew couldn’t agree more.

Nathaniel Wesninski was dead. Neil Abram Josten was alive.

And Andrew wanted Neil, not Nathaniel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this all the way to the end. I really hope you liked it, for I sure as hell loved writing it.


End file.
